Thursday, May 14, 2015

Henry // Five Months

Greetings from Michigan! We're here visiting my family right now and it's so nice to see everyone. I'm a little behind on posting Henry's five month update but better late than never!

This past month with Henry has been so much fun and full of lots of exciting developments! He turned five months old this past Friday (5/8) and I feel like both his personality and physical strength have made huge strides since last month. Here's what he's been up to over the past month...

Stats:

We won't know his exact length until his 6 month well checkup next month, but I actually had to take him to the pediatrician last week and so I just quickly used their scale while we were waiting to get his weight - he was right around 17lbs 15oz...so just under 18lbs! (He kept wiggling and was wearing clothes vs. being nakey like he usually is at his well checks so that number probably is not exact!) I can definitely feel him getting heavier though, and it's obvious that he's growing! As for his hair and eyes, it's still anyone's guess as to what color they'll end up. His hair was dark when he was born, but it's really starting to lighten up on top and it could end up turning blonde like his mama's. His eyes are a dark blueish gray but I feel like they could turn brown? We'll just have to wait and see!

Health:

Overall, Henry has been pretty healthy over the past month! He is still spitting up here and there after eating, but our pediatrician said that should start to improve pretty quickly once he's able to sit up on his own in a month or two. He does still have some craddle cap, but it doesn't seem to bother him and I feel like it's not that noticeable since he has quite a bit of hair. Per our pediatrician's recommendation, I've just been massaging a little bit of olive oil on his scalp and using a soft toothbrush to help loosen some of the flakes, and that seems to help.

He did have his first non-well visit to the pediatrician this month though :( Last Monday, he woke up with a red rash under his chin and a few red spots on his arms/legs. I noticed it when I was changing his diaper in the morning and thought maybe he just got warm while sleeping and figured it would go away. However, by mid-morning it looked a little worse and so I figured I should take him to the doctor just to be safe. The rash under his chin looked pretty splotchy but some of the spots looked like bug bites, so I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. However, he didn't have a fever and it didn't seem itchy or like it was bothering him so I wasn't too concerned...but still wanted to have it looked at, just in case. The pediatrician confirmed that was it was just some sort of mild allergic reaction and said that it's pretty common for things like this to happen with a baby's sensitive skin, especially because Henry is so fair. I'm not 100% sure what caused it, but the day before we did have Henry on a blanket in the backyard, and he kept putting his hands and feet in the grass. We don't have any fertilizers on our grass, but the pediatrician said even just the texture of the grass could irritate the sensitive skin of a baby that's never experienced it before and that we shouldn't worry too much. Sure enough, by the next day his rash was completely gone...but as I'm sure all my first time mommas can relate, you never want to take any chances when it appears something could be wrong!

Likes:

Henry is such a happy guy, I feel like there aren't many things he doesn't like at this point! He's obsessed with putting anything he can into his mouth - his fingers, his hands, our fingers, and any object that comes relatively close to him - and gnawing on it. (We had a playdate a few weeks ago and Henry realized he could use his hands to hold the other baby's hand in his mouth...insert monkey covering eyes emoji here...ha!) His coordination and ability to grab things has developed a lot over the past month, and now he can lock eyes on something, reach for it, and grab it easily. He's also so much more mobile and he loves rolling around! This month, he's really started arching his back when I'm changing his diaper and loves to lift his butt off the changing table and scooch himself back while I'm trying to get his diaper on. (I don't love this one quite as much as he does...) He seems to really like being around other babies now and has started to notice and interact with them when we have playdates or go to Mom/Baby Yoga. He's extremely social and loves making eye contact and giving smiles/laughs to anyone we meet out in public, and he doesn't seem to mind at all when other people hold him. He's very vocal and loves talking and laughing, and we are always making silly sounds and voices to get a giggle out of him. I'm still using the infant car seat attachment with my BOB Stroller, but this past month we finally started letting him ride in the main part of the stroller and he loves it! He seems to really enjoy being able to see out in front of him when we go on walks. And finally, this month I feel like Henry has really been loving his papa! In the beginning, he definitely seemed to favor me more because, hello, food source :) But now that he's getting older, he and Cameron are really bonding a lot more; Cam plays the guitar for him and is constantly making silly faces to make him laugh. It's so sweet to watch and I know their bond will only grow as time goes on.

Dislikes:

He's not a fan of being stuck in traffic, being overly hungry or tired, being hot, when the sun is bright and gets in his eyes, and he sometimes still gets a little upset when Lola starts howling.

Wears:
Despite being quite the big boy, he's still been fitting OK into most of his 3-6 month/6 month clothing. I'm sure I'll be putting him into 6-9 month stuff soon though! As for diapers, we switched him to size 3 this month and we're still loving the Honest Co. dipes! :)

Eats:
I'm still breastfeeding Henry and I'm so thankful that things are going well! I have been meaning to write a post on nursing, but basically I'm just really glad I stuck with it. I really love it and Henry seems to be thriving! He will occasionally get a bottle of pumped milk if Cam and I go out, but for the most part, it's straight from the source 24/7 :) I nurse him when he wakes up in the morning, every 3-4 hours during the day, and before bed at night and so depending on his naps, it averages out to be about 5 feedings per day. This past month, we also started to introduce some solids and that's been so much fun! We started with mashed avocado and then he's also tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and the occasional taste of banana when I have one. So far sweet potatoes seem to be his favorite! I'm not in a huge rush with solids, and so I haven't been doing it every single day. For now, I've just been making all the food he's had fresh, but as we start to feed him solids more regularly, I plan on making larger batches and freezing it. (Also,I understand people have lots of opinions when it comes to feeding solids; I totally respect whatever choices other moms decide to make for their babes when it comes to this area, but I'm not looking for any opinions on what we're choosing to do. We have our pediatrician's blessing for our course of action and this is what's working best for us!)

Sleeps:
This past month, we made some big strides in the sleep department because Henry is now sleeping in his crib at night! Previously, he had been sleeping in his bassinet in our room but since he was sleeping through the night just fine, we felt like it was time to move him to his crib. However, we had heard all about this dreaded 4 month sleep regression and wanted to make sure that wasn't going to be too much of an issue first. Thankfully, it didn't hit us too hard - we had a couple nights where he woke up randomly in the middle of the night, but nothing too crazy. Then when we were in Seattle and Vancouver, he did wake up once or twice in the night there, but we just chalked that up to him being off his schedule since we were traveling. He has had some days over the past month where he decides that he doesn't want to take his normal naps, but since he seems happy I don't worry about it too much. We started putting him in his crib at night after we got back from Vancouver and he's done really well so far! At night, I take him up to his room, nurse him one last time, then I lay him in his crib awake, turn on his white noise machine, and walk out. Sometimes he'll fall right asleep and other days he'll fuss a little bit first, but for the most part, he goes down pretty easily. We're typically putting him down between 8:30-9pm, but it can be slightly earlier or later depending on the day. He'll usually wake up around 6:30am (although sometimes he'll wake up a little earlier/later) and then will usually fall back asleep for a little while after I nurse him. He'll usually take at least two naps during the day, with one being pretty long...but it really varies from day to day depending on our schedule! Overall though, he's a really great sleeper and Cameron and I are both really thankful for that :)

Favorite Things:
Henry has been loving his Step 'n Play Piano this past month and I love it because it's nice to be able to put him in there when I need to start dinner or getting something done around the house :) We've been putting Henry in his Bumbo seat this past month as well and though we don't leave him in there long, he looks so adorable in it! I'm still loving my BOB Stroller, especially now that Henry can sit in the main seat. I'm still loving my wrap style carriers, but this past month we've also been using our Ergo 360 a lot and I really like it! Now that we have Henry in his crib at night, we've been using this baby monitor and so far it's worked well. The picture isn't as clear as some on the market and it doesn't have all the bells and whistles but for the price, it's not a bad monitor. We also have this noise machine in his nursery and I really like it! When it comes to feeding Henry solids, I've been using these spoons and they're great! Henry is putting everything in his mouth these days, and so I've really been loving this teething necklace. I'll plan on putting together a post with all our favorite items from 3-6 months soon so stay tuned for that!Milestones:

-Henry can push himself up really high onto his arms now when he's in tummy time, and he loves to do "push ups" which is so cute :) I feel like it won't be long before he is crawling across the floor!
-He's able to roll from both his stomach to his back and his back to his stomach really well now.
-We put him down on his back in his crib for naps and at night, but often he'll roll over to his stomach to sleep. If I notice on the monitor that he does this, I'll go in and check to make sure his face is turned out so he can breathe ok, but if he's comfy, then it's fine by me!
-He's discovered his toes over the past month and grabs them all the time.
-Henry went on his first longer trip by car this month and actually traveled out of the country for the first time when we visited Seattle and Vancouver.
-He also visited some landmarks in his home state when we went to Multnomah Falls and Timberline Lodge when we had friends in town last month.
-He's really started to laugh a lot this past month and does it so much, it's the BEST :)

Life with Henry is so much fun and I'm so thankful that he's such an easy, happy baby! He is so easy going and loves to be out and about with me during the day. I can't wait to see what this month with him brings, it's so crazy that my next post like this will be his SIX month update!

8 comments:

Their skin really is so sensitive! I remember my son getting a slug trash a day after sitting on a blanket in the grass too! He loved grabbing it and putting his bare feet in it. Same thing, no fertilizer, so I figured it wasn't that. Interesting to hear that even the texture can irritate their skin! I have such sensitive skin that I almost expected him to get red irritation marks on him. I did however get concerned when he got a rash on his stomach after eating squash. It was mild and never developed a true allergy to it thankfully.